Oura is expanding its smart‑ring capabilities with two new measurements designed to give users a clearer picture of how their exercise sessions affect their bodies. The company announced on Tuesday that it will introduce Cardio Effort and VO₂ max tracking, moving beyond simple metrics such as workout length and heart‑rate zones.
The move comes as the smart‑ring market becomes more crowded. While Oura has long been the dominant player, newer entrants such as RingConn and Ultrahuman are beginning to challenge its lead, prompting Oura to accelerate its innovation pipeline.
Cardio Effort is intended to show how much strain a workout places on the cardiovascular system. The metric is calculated over a week and compared with each user’s personal baseline, offering insight into whether the individual is maintaining fitness, building it, or overreaching. Oura says the feature shifts attention from “how many minutes did I move?” to “am I maintaining my fitness, building it, or overdoing it?” Because Cardio Effort incorporates both intensity and duration, a brief high‑intensity session can generate a score similar to a longer, lower‑intensity workout.
The metric is split into two parts: Workout Cardio Effort, which evaluates a single session, and Weekly Cardio Effort, which aggregates effort across the week and labels it as Light, Fair, Maintaining, Building, or Reaching. Oura derives the score from elevated heart‑rate data measured against each member’s long‑term resting heart rate, avoiding the variability of maximum‑heart‑rate estimates. Weekly levels are set using personalized ranges based on recent activity patterns. Cardio Effort will be available on the Oura Ring Generation 3 and later models.
The second addition, VO₂ max, reflects long‑term aerobic fitness by estimating how efficiently the heart, lungs and muscles deliver and use oxygen during exercise. Traditionally this value required a laboratory test or a six‑minute walk. Oura now provides a passive estimate using GPS‑enabled workouts. After a user completes five qualifying activities, an initial VO₂ max figure appears in the My Health Heart Hub, expressed in milliliters per kilogram per minute and accompanied by a fitness category—Low, Fair, High, or Peak. The hub also tracks changes over time and notes when the estimate has been updated or remains stable.
VO₂ max will launch in Oura Labs, the experimental feature hub, for members with Generation 3 or newer rings.
According to Oura, the two features are meant to work together, helping wearers understand both the immediate cardiovascular load of a workout and its cumulative impact on overall fitness.